


Mirrored Meanings; Sun and Strength

by Kalira



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Devotion, F/M, NejiHina Week, NejiHina Week 2020, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28078062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: To understand the heart of things, one must look beneath the obvious - and at times the obvious isn't so simple as it seems.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Hyuuga Neji
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29
Collections: Kalira's NejiHina Week Stories (2020)





	Mirrored Meanings; Sun and Strength

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [NejiHina Week 2020](https://nejihinata.tumblr.com/post/633513960386215936), Day 2: Sunrise

“What- Oh!”

Hinata flexed her shoulders tentatively, then arched her back, relieved when the stabbing, worryingly central and radiating pain in her spine remained absent. She pushed herself up a little, looking over her shoulder. “I’m sorry?” she asked, frowning slightly as Ino picked her way over to join Sakura, both of them staring down at her. “Ah. . . Is something wrong?”

“No, I’m sorry, Hinata.” Sakura said, smiling slightly. She patted Hinata’s side. “You’re fine, though I want you to rest as much as possible for a day or two, sleep on your back tonight, and _don’t_ use any chakra for the rest of the day.”

She narrowed her eyes in warning, but Hinata only dipped her head obediently. She wouldn’t disobey an iryou nin’s instructions, and Sakura was one of the best.

“Your back. . .” Ino said, and Hinata tensed slightly.

“Ino-pig!” Sakura swatted her, then turned back to Hinata with a bright smile. “Your back is _fine_ , it’s. . . We’ve never seen your words before.”

“Oh.” Hinata felt herself going pink, knowing what they had seen on her back, between her shoulders, though it had been some time since she looked herself. Or . . . knowing what the words read; with one half inverted and both laced together in a complex, stylised whirl, of those few who had seen Hinata’s words, most of them only read a part.

 _Greatest Weakness_ it read most clearly just below her nape, bared with Sakura having pinned her hair up with hasty but careful hands.

Tangled through it, however, like the distorted mirroring shown by rippling water, was another set of strokes. _Impossible Strength._

Hinata smiled slightly at Sakura and Ino, reaching for her shirt.

“Are you all right?” Ino asked gently, settling beside her and helping her pull the shirt on without straining newly-healed skin and muscle.

“Better than I could have expected,” Hinata replied softly, “taking such a blow on the battlefield.”

If Kiba and Akamaru hadn’t seen her, if Akamaru hadn’t stood over her while Kiba cleared a path, if her team hadn’t- Well, Hinata had been down and barely able to move half her body on an active battlefield. She knew all too well how badly it could have ended.

“That wasn’t what I meant.” Ino said, resting a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, near but not atop her mark.

Hinata smiled slightly as she rose from the cot. She bowed her head to Sakura and murmured thanks again, moving towards the entrance of the tent. She paused and turned back, looking at her yearmates.

“Is not the softest part of your heart that reserved for the one you hold most precious?” she asked quietly. “A weakness that cannot be erased, only defended.”

Sakura’s eyes widened and Ino’s breath hitched, a knowing sort of shadow flitting across her face. Hinata smiled a little more; she was well aware of the painful side of that weakness, as well as its strength.

She slipped out of the small medical tent and began making her way across the camp towards the one she and her teammates were sharing, her thoughts winging towards her soulmate, still out of contact deep in the field.

 _Be safe_ , she thought, fingers tangling together, _I’m here and whole and waiting for you._

* * *

It was dark enough in the kitchen even with all the curtains thrown wide that Hinata almost put on a light as she made tea and rice. She knew every hairsbreadth of her kitchen, however, and neither she nor Neji ever put anything out of place, and she filled in what she couldn’t easily see well enough from memory.

She left the rice under a cover, soup on a low burner, and the tea on the stove in its heavy iron pot; all would keep warm for a time without interference. She ignored the memory of one of the aunts - actually a cousin distant enough Hinata would have to seriously think to remember their exact relation - who would be horrified enough to nearly screech at Hinata for such ‘carelessness’.

Hinata snorted, unladylike, as she made her way outside. There was a time to be concerned with such perfection, and there were times when ‘good enough’ was perfect.

The sun had yet to peek over the horizon, but the grey-blue light of dawn was beginning to spread across the sky. It was still a chill morning, and Hinata smoothed her palms over her upper arms as she made her way down the slope towards the private training ground set off by a small orchard on two sides and garden on the other.

She found Neji there, as she had expected. She paused, watching as he eased out of a slow kata, drawing himself fully upright. Despite the morning chill, Neji’s shirt was laid aside over the low bench nearby, and Hinata hummed, admiring the flex of muscle as he brought his arms up, shoulders flexing, to press his hands together over his head.

He had not unbound the braid he wore to sleep, and it fell over his shoulder, baring his back and the words written there to Hinata’s gaze.

 _Shadow_ stretched in clear, elegant strokes across Neji’s shoulders, much bigger than Hinata’s own words, crossing his shoulder blades. _Sun_ tangled up beneath it, inverted and almost impossible to make out.

Tracing the strokes with her eyes, Hinata padded across the small field towards her soulmate to let her fingers follow suit in a light caress over his skin, tracing her own truest heart’s thought of him. He must have been out here for some time, because he was starting to sweat from the exertion regardless of the cool morning air.

“Ohayou.” Neji murmured, and Hinata smiled, stepping closer and winding her arms around him, tucking her chin on his shoulder.

“Ohayou, koibito.” Hinata’s fingers trailed over his lean stomach as she sighed, and Neji hummed, body relaxed in her embrace. “How long have you been awake?” she asked curiously. “I didn’t hear you rise.”

Neji could, of course, slip from their bed without wakening her if he tried - Hinata trusted him and rested easy in his presence, and he was silent as the shadow he carried on his back when he chose - but normally they did not do so when they rose in the mornings. Not at home.

“A while.” Neji made a dismissive sort of sound low in his throat, then turned towards her, and Hinata released her embrace to let him move more easily. “Nothing to worry over.” he promised her with clear eyes, and Hinata smiled, relieved. “I’m ready to go in whenever you are, saiai.” he added, lifting her hand to his lips.

Hinata smiled, swaying closer for a beat, then stepping back. “Not yet.” she said, and her smile widened at the surprise on her soulmate’s face. “Let’s just. . .” Her gaze tracked to the warming glow on the horizon, and when she met Neji’s eyes again he was smiling.

“Let’s watch the sun rise first.” Neji said softly, kissing her fingers, his eyes warm and his smile. . .

 _Mine already has_ , Hinata thought, pressing close and sliding an arm around his shoulders. _My sun lighting every day, my shadow at my side and curling around me every night. . ._

Neji nuzzled her cheek, stroking her hair with his free hand, and Hinata closed her eyes, drawing him into a kiss. Neji wrapped her in his arms and she wound both of hers around him in turn, giving a soft purr as he kept her close.

The secluded field slowly grew warmer around them, twined together at its heart, but they missed the rising of the sun entirely.


End file.
